Official art of Edyn from Episode 62: Chaos and Consequence by paincake101.[Art 1]
"Nothing is wrong with you, Gill." -Edyn, consoling Gillion about his departure from the Undersea.
Edyn Tidestrider is the older sister of Gillion Tidestrider and a bartender of The Tank in Allport. As an NPC, she is played by Grizzlyplays, aka Grizzly.
Description
Appearance
Fanart design of Edyn, art by @sobblespoink.[Art 2]
Edyn Tidestrider is an adult Triton woman with short cut, wavy hair that looks similar to that of Gillion Tidestrider, one side clipped back by a starfish shaped pin. Her bangs swoop over the right side of her face, and the tips of her hair are white like sea-foam. She has slightly more turquoise skin than her brother, with the same bright blue eyes and purple spotted birthmarks down her face and neck. She's also described as having "very charming" facial features, including dimples.
She wears silver ear piercings with chains connecting them, and a stud in her nose. Edyn's outfit, at least at her job as a bartender, includes a white apron with a sleeveless burgundy vest accented turquoise beneath, wrapped around by a brown leather sash. Under her vest she wears puffy white sleeves that come off her shoulders and brown leather arm guards that wrap under her arm to her palm, covered in small shells and crustaceans. She wears midnight blue tights with calf-height brown leather boots tied with teal ribbons.
Personality
Edyn is rather soft-spoken and gentle but does not lack a spine or passion. She is outwardly friendly and polite, but chooses her words very carefully when talking, even to Gillion Tidestrider. She also seems to share his naïveté about oversea culture to an extent, eager to see Jay Ferin "fly" as Chip claims she could.
She is rather empathetic, as well. (wip)
Background
Edyn is the older sister of Gillion Tidestrider. She was very close with her brother, who was the prophesied hero of an unknown destiny. Though most of his childhood he was forced to live in a palace within the Undersea to focus on his duties as a hero, she was allowed to visit regularly when he was young, though the amount of visits allowed would go down over the years. In the months leading up to Gillion's banishment from the Undersea, she was allowed to visit him less and less, something she feels guilty for. Once Gillion was gone, she was prevented from visiting him entirely, as the Elders kept her in the dark about his disappearance. Edyn, knowing something was wrong, began dig for information and secretly traveled to the surface to try and find him. During this investigation, she also began to uncover secret plans by the Navy, where they were attempting to create an artificial leviathan —god of the sea to rival the gods that the Undersea worshipped.
She tells Gillion that during her journey to the surface, she almost died due to being attacked by some sort of monsters in the open sea, but she was saved by an individual heavily implied to be Niklaus Hendrix, though she notably calls him by the name "Nikolas". When Gillion asks, she says that she didn't make any sort of deal with him. She described him as kind/friendly and could not understand how he would be sinister, being grateful towards him, but says she'll take Gillion's word for it.
She later came to Allport where she became a bartender of The Tank, and where she met Caspian. They became friends, and one day, when he "put two and two together", Caspian called her on his conch to ask if she knew Gillion. When she immediately began to cry at the question, Caspian understood. He told her that Gillion was alive, okay and coming to Allport soon. She tells Gillion that she actually tries to visit home in the Undersea when she can, to visit their parents. They do not know that she is living on the surface, and probably don't know that Gillion is even gone, two facts that Gillion is unsurprised by, suggesting they don't care to check on their children.
In Episode 73: Oath of Vengeance, Chip completed a maze in the Feywild and was rewarded with the opportunity to speak with seemingly anyone. He chose to speak with Edyn, and in doing so accidentally saw Edyn speaking with an unconfirmed older high ranking female officer of R.A.F.T. who is presumed to be Faye Ferin[1]. He was unable to make out what they discussed, or where. When confronting Edyn, she begged him not to tell Gillion. She was unwilling to disclose any additional information but insisted that it wasn't what it looked like and she couldn't be visibly upset wherever she was.
Relationships
Gillion Tidestrider
Edyn is Gillion's older sister, though it is not specified how many years apart they are. With parents that were distant, and later abandoned Gillion at training, Edyn was more family & caretaker to him than anyone else. Edyn is very protective of Gillion and concerned for his wellbeing. She knows how to calm him down and comfort him and does so regularly, being comparable to a gentle ripple in the water vs. Gillion being a riptide. When Gillion blames himself for or says self-deprecating things, she is quick to shut him/negative talk down, refuting his words. She reiterates that nothing he has been through is his fault or something he deserved, which Gillion is very appreciative of. She has been a continuous support for Gillion throughout his youth, visiting him when possible where he trained with the Elders in the Undersea. However, as time would go on it seems that Edyn was able to visit less and less. She is also the one to gift him Pretzel when she was just a tadpole,[2] shortly before Edyn would not see him again (presumably due to training), implying that she has been (literally) attached to his hip for quite some time. In Episode 58: The Tides Between Us, Grizzly refers to the time they spent apart as a "very, very, very long time".
Gillion is visibly a bit different with Edyn around following their reunion in Episode 57: The Hull of the World. He immediately is unable to stop himself from crying (the first time Gillion had seriously cried in campaign) and jumping over the bar in The Tank to hug her. Rightfully, he trusts her entirely and wholeheartedly. Gillion is, later, noticeably quieter and relaxed around her; comfortable in her presence, though still notably excited -- more childlike, even. He is also more emotionally vulnerable in general, something that Gillion rarely if ever is around people. It is enough of a change for Chip to be thrown off by his behavior when they meet up again in Episode 58. It is clear that Edyn is one of if not the most important person in Gillion's life, and he cherishes her immensely.
Edyn was seemingly prevented from seeing Gillion leading up to his exile, as she voices to him her guilt of "not being able to see [Gillion] or visit [him] when [he] was stuck." After Gillion was exiled, Edyn was kept in the dark about his whereabouts by the elders, but was convinced something was wrong when they stopped letting her see him entirely. She tells her brother that she left the Undersea after a few months to look for him. She heavily implies that she was very worried that he was dead until Caspian told her about his whereabouts, but "never lost hope", repeatedly saying that she is so glad Gillion is alive upon their reunion. It seems she harbors resentment towards the Elders for what they taught and did to Gillion, rightfully.
Trivia
- Like Gillion, she considers non-fishfolk to smell "rancid".[3]
- Edyn's age is confirmed by Grizzly in his discord.[4]